Police make fewer arrests in frigid weather

It has been so cold and slick this week in Wichita that area schools have been closed for days and folks who haven’t had to venture out have stayed home.

As it turns out, even those with bad intent have laid low.

There were so few arrests made by Wichita police on Wednesday – when the temperature spent most of the day in single digits – that the daily police report filled little more than two pages. A more typical day of arrests can fill five to seven pages on a weekday and surpass 20 on a weekend.

“The cold weather has created a slowdown in the number of police calls and arrests that we made,” Lt. Doug Nolte said.

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But hunkering down against the cold weather and slick streets could boomerang on some people: Wichita Municipal Court issued 87 bench warrants on 69 people who didn’t show up for court Wednesday. That compares to the 50 warrants issued for 38 people on the typical day in January, court records show.